Westwater Canyon is an amazing stretch of the Colorado River that consists of nine class III+/IV rapids. It can get really gnarly in high water, and I have experienced major scary carnage in rafts at those levels (video evidence here), but during the Fall, it's a super challenging and relatively safe stretch on a SUP.
This year was the third time I have SUP'd Westwater. One of my goals was to be able to clean the entire stretch and SEND IT!! So I reviewed the footage from year's past. Replayed it over and over. Slow motion. Studied it. Wrote down what I would say as my own coach. Oh man, I wanted to clean Westwater Canyon SO DANG BAD. "How do I get my SUP to go straight?"Photo captured by Brad Mickelson at the 2017 FibArk on the Arkansas River, Colorado. Most people can pick up paddle boarding within the first SUP session, no lesson necessary. However, there is more to stand up paddle boarding than meets the eye, and even though most people consider their SUP experience a success because they can stand and somewhat navigate their board, there are some simple tips that can improve their paddle experience.
In this post, I will equip you with tools to combat the number one question I hear from SUP newbies while establishing their paddle technique -- "How do I get my SUP to go straight?"
I am logged at about 65 paddle days so far this year.
I feel that I haven’t gone out and paddled enough. This year is different. It's been a wake up call for me. I had to learn to let go. I had to learn how to relax. I had to learn about sacrifice and protecting my assets. |
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